Barn Advisor
The Barn Advisor is an Advisor seen in Episode Two that crashed with its pod in a barn. It was being sustained by its life support system and guarded by a small contingent of Combine troopers. Biography Background The Advisor's crashed pod bears the label '314 URB-LOC 0017 Advisor', the same label on the Advisor encountered by Gordon and Alyx in the Citadel. This label may indicate that the two are one and the same, but it is equally likely that all pods bear the same label. In either case, it is presumably one of the many pods that were launched from the Citadel prior to its destruction. Appearances ''Half-Life 2: Episode Two'' When Alyx and Gordon are driving to White Forest with their newly found Muscle Car, they spot smoke on the ridge next to a barn, where they discover a crashed Advisor Pod. They come to the conclusion that an Advisor is in the area. They travel to the barn, where they are assaulted by periodic psychic attacks, confirming its presence. Fending off the Combine soldiers guarding the barn, they discover the Advisor within, contained in a life support chamber. Several dead rebels are also inside, apparently having been killed by the Advisor since they have no external wounds. Alyx decides to kill it by shutting off its life support under the Victory Mine Vortigaunt's advice. They do so by opening the generator so Gordon can punt the Energy Ball from its field with his Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator. Doing this, however, only awakens it, and it uses its telekinetic powers to pin Gordon and Alyx, as well as a rebel corpse and a barrel, to a wall. The Advisor picks up a barrel and crushes it. Its next target is the dead rebel. Using its tongue-like appendage, it stabs the rebel in the back of the neck, apparently feeding on him. After it seemingly realizes the rebel is dead, it crushes his body and throws him across the room. It then moves to Gordon, but a timely malfunction of its life support system causes a piece of rebar to lodge in the side of its head. Injured, it drops Gordon and flees. It rips an entire section of the roof off and breaks it into splinters, forming a makeshift shield to defend itself as it escapes. Combine forces then descend upon the barn to deal with Alyx and Gordon. Abilities The Barn Advisor is the first demonstration of the Advisors' considerable telekinetic powers. It is able to hold Alyx, Gordon, and a dead rebel to a nearby wall, completely immobilizing them, without apparent effort. It is able to exert enough force to crush a metal barrel and fracture the rebel's skeleton. Curiously, the Advisor, perhaps as a result of its early release, does not seem to be able to "see" in the conventional sense. It crushes the barrel only after examining it with its tongue, indicating that it could not tell what it had grabbed. Likewise, it does not seem to understand the rebel is dead until it actually tries to feed on him. This seems to indicate that its only form of spatial awareness at the time was through its telekinesis, which clearly has trouble distinguishing between objects. Gallery File:Barn Advisor.jpg|The Barn Advisor bleeding. File:Barn Advisor tongue.jpg|The Barn Advisor attempting to feed off Gordon. File:Barn Advisor telekinesis.jpg|The Barn Advisor pulling on Alyx, Gordon and a Resistance member. File:Barn Advisor life support destroyed.jpg|Alyx destroying the Barn Advisor's life support system. List of appearances *''Half-Life 2: Episode One'' (possibly, see Background) *''Half-Life 2: Episode Two'' Category:Advisors Category:Half-Life 2: Episode Two Category:Characters Category:Combine Units Category:Enemies Category:Creatures